ARRGHH!! Bloody hell!! Dented the Maxima!

[mAdD INDIAN]

This SUCKS! When it rains, its pours!

So after a full day of studying for my exams (which are coming up this wednesday) I went to my friend's place to relax for a bit. Now his apartment building has limited parking space for visitors, and I didn't want to park in the emergency spot because I was scared to get towed/ticketed. So instead, I went to the building next to his and parked in their visitor spot since they were empty.

So anyway, as I was leaving, I backed out of the space at an angle. What I didn't notice however was that there was a square box protuding from the ground which housed the pole. I saw the pole, but did not see it's rather large square base. So as I was backing out at an angle, I scratched the bottom of the door against it. Now there's a nice dent and scratch on the bottom of the driver door! I'm soo #@$ pissed, its not even funny!! My parents aren't here either. I'm gonna have to wait till they call to let them know so we can figure out how to handle it.

How much money do you think it would cost to fix the door? I'm guessing you'd have to replace it or something.

 

[gopunk]

i don't think you'll have to replace it.

 

[Keego]

man, that sucks, that's why I drive around a '76 chevy, noone will notice that kind of scratch

 

[Jugernot]

Nope, most insurance companies opt for the bondo method for such small dings. Last year I had a rock from a truck tire put a quarter sized dent in my hood, got it fixed 100% (Was covered by comprehensive) by my insurance company. They used bondo and color matched the spot with the rest of my hood along with redoing the clear coat of my hood. You can't even tell where it was now.... I'd say it would cost you a few hundred at a "good" body shop.

 

[olds]

You won't have to replace the door but body work can be expensive. What's your deductable?

 

[PsychoAndy]

pics?

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

It's not a quarter size dent. It's the size of a large sub sandwhich..well not that long..but its fairly big. And I dented the top part of the side-sill also. Ddammit im pissed! I'll wait till my dad comes before I do anything though.

We'll prolly take it to the dealer first and get a quote from them. Then depending on how it is, we know a good body shop that can prolly fix it for cheaper.

 

[McPhreak]

<< It's not a quarter size dent. It's the size of a large sub sandwhich..well not that long..but its fairly big. >>



Give yourself 24 hours to cool down and it'll be the size of a quarter by then.

 

[N8Magic]

Is the damage confined to one panel? Or is it spread out amongst multiple panels?

More panels = more $$$.

 

[Ladies Man]

hows about you calm down and really think about the situation

your car is the same that it was before.. with a small scratch/ding
is it really worth spending all that money to fix it? hell no

get some paint to match it and fill in where its down to bare metal so it won't rust...
whenever you need to repaint the car in the future just get all the problems fixed... it will happen... again.... and again... and again...

 

[perry]

Start calling junkyards and looking around for the same color car that was in a front end collision er something. Just buy the entire door.

 

[Red Dawn]

Hey that's why you have insurance. Stuff like that happens to almost everybody

 

[N8Magic]

<< your car is the same that it was before.. with a small scratch/ding is it really worth spending all that money to fix it? hell no >>



Yeah, i'm sure his parents will get a kick out of THAT explanation. Did you miss the part where it's not his car?

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Uh..the dent goes pretty deep. You can't see it from the inside, but you surely can notice it from the outside. I'm just pissed because I never ever hit anything like this. I'm usually anal about parking and pride myself on my parking skills. And today for some dumb reason I hit the square-type thing while backing out! I was tired out from studying algebra all day, but still thats not an excuse.

Its only on one door panel and the bottom sill. I'm pretty sure the bottom sill can be replaced easily.

Anyway, thanks guys.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Yeah its not my car, my dad's.

Anyway, its pretty whack cause the door is out of alignment..when it closes, it moves up a little. I think the hinges need to be replaced also.

 

[N8Magic]

<< Yeah its not my car, my dad's.

Anyway, its pretty whack cause the door is out of alignment..when it closes, it moves up a little. I think the hinges need to be replaced also. >>



Let's look on the bright side. At least you didn't do what my buddy did, and back out of the garage with the driver's side door open. It ripped the door off of the car, and ripped the one side of the garage door itself down.

Try explaining that one! LOL

 

[McPhreak]

<< Start calling junkyards and looking around for the same color car that was in a front end collision er something. Just buy the entire door. >>



I don't know how old your maxima is but the older it is, the harder it is to use another car of the same color to replace it simply because the color changes as it gets old. If it's an older car, I would go with trying to get the paint matched from your own car.

 

[Ladies Man]

yes i did miss it

i guess i should be shot for that one

thats also the way i think my parents would handle the situation... but people are different... and some can't stand anything at all wrong with their car no matter how big or small.

 

[N8Magic]

<< yes i did miss it

i guess i should be shot for that one

thats also the way i think my parents would handle the situation... but people are different... and some can't stand anything at all wrong with their car no matter how big or small. >>



oops.

There was supposed to be a smiley at the end of that sentence.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

<<

<< Yeah its not my car, my dad's.

Anyway, its pretty whack cause the door is out of alignment..when it closes, it moves up a little. I think the hinges need to be replaced also. >>



Let's look on the bright side. At least you didn't do what my buddy did, and back out of the garage with the driver's side door open. It ripped the door off of the car, and ripped the one side of the garage door itself down.

Try explaining that one! LOL >>



Damn! How could you not notice that? But then I could see my self doing that I'm stressed out at the time. I get so absent minded.

The Maxima is a '99 model so its pretty new. The thing is we treat the car as if its a Mercedes or something cause to us its a pretty expensive car. To have a rather large dent or gash in it is pretty bad. And I feel bad cause its my fault!

 

[N8Magic]

<< Damn! How could you not notice that? But then I could see my self doing that I'm stressed out at the time. I get so absent minded. >>



Actually, he was late for work, and opened the door to get something he dropped getting in to the car. He stepped on it to get out of the garage, and BANG!

(at least that's the story he tells everyone. )